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111-550: In the most restricted sense, the Igawawen were a confederation ( kabyle : taqbilt , derived from arabic "قبيلة" meaning tribe) of 8 tribes split into two groups: "Zwawa" was the Arabic name of medieval Muslim historians for the tribes who inhabited the region between Bejaia and Dellys . Some say that it's a deformation of the word "Igawawen", which was the name of a Kabyle confederation made up of eight tribes organized into two groups:

222-466: A 'national language' in the 2002 Algerian Constitution, but not as an 'official language' until 2016 after a long campaign by activists. French is not recognized in any legal document of Algeria but enjoys a de facto position of an official language as it is used in every Algerian official administration or institution, at all levels of the government, sometimes much more than Arabic. The Berber (Amazigh) language faces an unfavourable environment, despite

333-508: A 2002 constitutional amendment. In February 2016, the Algerian constitution passed a resolution that made Berber an official language alongside Arabic. The phonemes below reflect the pronunciation of Kabyle. Kabyle has three phonemic vowels : ⟨e⟩ is used to write the epenthetic schwa vowel [ə] which occurs frequently in Kabyle. Historically, it is thought to be the result of

444-502: A European with dubious credentials as King of England". Inevitably, the arrogance and exactions of the Kutama led to rebellions in the newly conquered Fatimid domains, in which the Kutama particularly were singled out and killed by the rebels. After the move of the seat of the caliphate to Egypt in 973, a large number of Kutama accompanied the dynasty east. However, the forays into the Levant in

555-454: A certain romanization , at least punctually, thus the creation of the milestone respublica Vahartanensium , probably linked to the need for a road crossing of the massif which is hardly attested until the reign of Hadrian . In 411, their chief town Ceramusa or Ceramudensis plebsis is attested as the seat of a bishopric. The same episcopal seat was occupied by a certain Montanus of Cedamusa during

666-535: A corresponding agent noun . In English it could be translated into verb+er. It is obtained by prefixing the verb with « am- » or with « an- » if the first letter is b / f / m / w (there are exceptions, however). Verbal nouns are derived differently from different classes of verbal stems (including 'quality verbs'). Often a- or t(u)- is prefixed: Pronouns may either occur as standalone words or bound to nouns or verbs. Example: « Ula d nekk. » – "Me too." Possessive pronouns are bound to

777-435: A fierce rivalry developed between the Kutama and the "Easterners" ( Mashāriqa ). In 996, on the accession of al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah , the Kutama refused to acknowledge the new caliph unless the Kutama leader al-Hasan ibn Ammar was appointed as vizier . This was done, but Ibn Ammar's blatantly pro-Berber regime quickly alienated other members of the elite, and he was overthrown a year later. Finally, when al-Hakim assumed

888-833: A literate and educated family, which had been well established in Bejaia , and had long served the Hafsid sultans. In Spanish documents, the Kingdom of Kuku was often referred to as "Reino de Azuagos " , meaning the Kingdom of the Zwawa. But the French anthropologist, Émile Masqueray supports the idea that the Aït Ulqadi reigned only over the valley of Wad Sebaou and part of eastern Great Kabylia. Émile Masqueray says about Sidi Ahmed el-Kadi: "The precise witnesses of

999-511: A little before the middle of the 8th century. The fact remains that in 757-758 AD, during the capture of Kairouan by the Ibadis , Kutama were among the Kharidjite troops, allied with Abu al-Khattab al-Ma'afiri and Abd al-Rahman ibn Rustam . The latter, then governor of Kairouan, appointed one of their own, Uqayba, to head it. Little is known about the Kutama for the rest of the eighth century, after

1110-783: A native language among the Algerian Kabyle-descended diaspora in European and North American cities (mainly France). It is estimated that half of Kabyles live outside the Kabylian region. Estimates on the number of Kabyle speakers in the region vary widely, with different dates and data given for different points of time. As such the number of Kabyle speakers varies considerably depending on differnt sources given. French ethnologist Camille Lacoste-Dujardin  [ fr ] estimates four million Kabyle speakers in 2001 in Algeria. According to

1221-406: A pan-Berber reduction or merger of three other vowels. The phonetic realization of the vowels, especially /a/ , is influenced by the character of the surrounding consonants; emphatic consonants invite a more open realization of the vowel, e.g. aẓru = [azˤru] 'stone' vs. amud = [æmud] 'seed'. Often /a, i, u/ are realized as [æ, ɪ, ʊ] . In the Kabyle language there are various accents which are

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1332-484: A public radio in Algeria (Channel II, which dates back to 1925 ), as well as a public TV channel in Morocco (Channel IV or Tamazight TV). Since private ownership of TV channels is illegal in Algeria, Kabyles have launched a private Kabyle speaking TV channel, called Berbère Television , that broadcasts from France. There is no Kabyle newspaper. Some Algerian newspapers such as La Dépêche de Kabylie  [ fr ] offer

1443-598: A single united confederation, even if they speak the same language, have the same culture, and the same religion, and despite this, they were often allies to deal with foreign invasions, as in 1849 against the French, but also in 1830, 1857, and 1871 against the same enemy. While the Spaniards had control over some ports in the Maghreb, the Turks and the Kabyles supported each other against

1554-460: A small Kabyle section. In 1994, Kabyle pupils and students boycotted Algerian schools for a year, demanding the officialization of Berber, leading to the symbolic creation of the " Haut commissariat à l'amazighité " (HCA) in 1995. Berber was subsequently taught as a non-compulsory language in Berber speaking areas. The course being optional, few people attend. The Kabyle school boycott also resulted in

1665-609: Is Artana, which may refer to the Aït Iraten confederation. The third is Benicassim. The Zwawa were always traditional allies of the Kutama , perhaps even because they are themselves Kutama as Ibn Hazm and Ibn Khaldun claimed, even though they were mentioned separately in the historical records. In the tenth century, the tribes of the Baranis group of modern central Algeria, such as the Sanhaja ,

1776-611: Is a Berber language ( tamazight ) spoken by the Kabyle people in the north and northeast of Algeria . It is spoken primarily in Kabylia , east of the capital Algiers and in Algiers itself, but also by various groups near Blida , such as the Beni Salah and Beni Bou Yaqob. Estimating the number of Berber speakers is very difficult and figures are often contested. A 2004 estimate was that 9.4% of

1887-455: Is expressed by «  ur  » before the verb and the particle «  ara  » after the verb: Other negative words (acemma... etc.) are used in combination with ur to express more complex types of negation. This system developed via Jespersen's cycle . Verb derivation is performed by adding affixes. There are three types of derivation forms: causative , reflexive and passive . Two prefixes can cancel each other: Every verb has

1998-484: Is mostly composed of fricatives, phonemes which are originally stops in other Berber languages, but in writing there is no difference between fricatives and stops. Below is a list of fricatives vs. stops and when they are pronounced (note that gemination turns fricatives into stops ). The most ancient Berber writings were written in the Libyco-Berber script , mostly from Numidian and Roman times. This script

2109-675: Is no longer used in Algerian Arabic either, except in western Algeria, where Kabyles are still called Zwawa. Zwawa was also a personal name. In the 9th century, one of the chiefs of the Huwwara Berber tribe, who took part in the Muslim conquest of Sicily , was called Zwawa ibn Neam al-Half, who assisted in the triumph of the Muslim armies against the Byzantines. Ibn Hawqal in the 10th century,

2220-504: Is still strong in villages but urban Kabyles in Algeria are increasingly shifting to Arabic and diaspora Kabyles to the surrounding language. A 2013 study found that 54% of Kabyles living in Oran spoke Arabic to their siblings. After the 2001–02 widespread Kabyle protests known as the Black Spring , the Berber (Amazigh) language (with all its Algerian dialects and varieties) was recognized as

2331-421: Is used for subjects placed after their verbs, after prepositions, in noun complement constructions, and after certain numerals. Kabyle also places nouns in construct state when they head a noun phrase containing a co-referential bound pronoun earlier in the utterance. Examples: After a preposition (with the exception of "ar" and "s"), all nouns take their annexed state: Verbs are conjugated for three tenses:

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2442-812: The International Encyclopedia of Linguistics there were 2.5 million speakers in Kabylia in 2003 out of 3.1 million worldwide. In 2004, Canadian linguist Jacques Leclerc (linguist)  [ fr ] estimated that there were 3.1 million Kabyle speakers in Algeria (9.4% of the total Algerian population) and 500,000 in France. Salem Chaker estimated there were 5.5 million speakers in 2004, including 3 to 3.5 in Kabylia. The Encyclopædia Universalis gives 7 million Kabyle speakers. The French Ministry of Culture estimated there were one million Kabyle speakers in France in 2013. Linguist Matthias Brenzinger estimates

2553-1029: The Aït Waguenun , the Iflissen Lebhar , the Aït Djennad , the Aït Ghubri, the tribes of High Sebaou and Assif el-Hammam , the Aït Aissi , the Aït Dwala , the Aït Zmenzer , the Betruna, the Aït Khelifa and part of the Maatka . The caïdat de Sebaou was, like the caïdat of Boghni, under the authority of the Bey of Titteri. The populations of the mountain ranges of the Aït Iraten (Aït Akerma,

2664-1062: The Beni Yenni , the Beni Bou-Ghardan, the Beni Ituragh , the Beni Bu Yusef , the Beni Chayb, the Beni Aissi, the Beni Sedqa, the Beni Ghubrin and the Beni Gechtoula." The Aït Iraten and the Aït Frawsen, Zwawian tribes, were also mentioned on the same page, but not in this list. Moreover, Ibn Khaldun mentioned the Ait Yenni separately from the Ait Betrun, while they belong to the latter. Same thing for

2775-679: The Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171), forming the bulk of the Fatimid army which eventually overthrew the Aghlabids who controlled Ifriqiya , and which then went on to conquer Egypt , Sudan , Hijaz and the southern Levant in 969–975. The Kutama remained one of the mainstays of the Fatimid army until well into the 11th century. The Kutama are attested in the form Koidamousii , by the Greek geographer Ptolemy , whose African documentation seems to date from

2886-569: The Fatimid dynasty , is strong evidence in favor of this opinion. The Kutama , including the Zwawa, like all the other Berber tribes, participated in the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula . There are also several toponyms in Spain that derive their origins from Berber tribes settled in the region, such as Atzueva (At Zwawa), which can even mean that the Berber language was spoken there, because of

2997-771: The Hafsids of Tunis , confronted the Ottomans for the first time in the Battle of Issers, on the territory of the Aït Aicha tribe (province of Boumerdès ). The Kabyles inflicted heavy losses on the Ottomans and emerged victorious. The way for Algiers became open, they seized the city the following year and Sidi Ahmed Ulkadi became Master of Kuku and Algiers , and therefore controlled the Mitidja . Khayr ad-Din took refuge in Jijel after his defeat against

3108-514: The Kabyle "th" with "z". During the time of the Regency of Algiers , the Kabyles were considered such excellent infantrymen that the name "Zwawi" became synonymous with "infantryman". The various factions of the Titteri tribes provided a certain number of infantrymen who at times guarded Algiers and especially the surrounding bordjs (plural of fortress). They were only paid during active service. It

3219-556: The Kabyles and the Ottomans was not always good. The relationship between Sidi Ahmed Ulkadi and the Barberossa brothers ( Aruj and Khayr ad-Din ) deteriorated because of the assassination of Salim at-Tumi, leader of the Thaaliba who controlled Algiers , by the Barberossa brothers in 1516 for their own interest. Perhaps it is for this reason that Sidi Ahmed Ulkadi had abandoned Aruj Barbarossa

3330-418: The Kabyles , and he had captured Bona , Collo and Constantine and received the allegiance of many tribes in the region, although he failed to liberate all of Algeria. After five or even seven years, but more likely five, Sidi Ahmed Ulkadi was assassinated, and Khayr ad-Din had recaptured Algiers . The history of the Kingdom of Kuku did not end there, although the kingdom was weakened. Sidi Ahmed el-Kadi

3441-502: The Kingdom of Tlemcen . One of his sons, Abu Abdulrahman Ya'qub, fled, was arrested and died shortly thereafter. After this event, a butcher from the Sultan's kitchen, who looked a lot like Abu Abdulrahman Yacoub, went to the Aït Iraten. When he reached the tribe's territory, Chimsi, a woman of the noble family of the Abd al-Samed, hastened to grant him protection and urged the whole tribe to recognize

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3552-602: The Kutama , and the Zwawa, played a fundamental role in the creation of the Fatimid Caliphate by constituting the Army of the empire that had conquered most of the Maghreb , Sicily , Egypt , the Levant , and the Hejaz . The Zwawa participated in several battles for the Fatimid Caliphate , alongside their neighbors and blood brothers, notably in the siege of the fortress of Kiana (in the vicinity of

3663-622: The Marinids , Zenata from the same branch as the Zayyanids (Beni Wasin), and they controlled Al-Maghrib al-Aqsa ("The extreme Maghreb", i.e. Morocco ), and had Fez as their capital. The Zwawa were part of the territory controlled by the government of Bejaia , and therefore of the Hafsid Sultanate . Ibn Khaldun , who was the only historian of the Middle Ages to give important information about

3774-709: The Qalaa of the Beni Hammad ) against Abu Yazid , in which the Fatimids succeeded in taking the fortress and defeating the Zenati Kharijites and Nekkarites . In the year 972, the Zwawa came under the control of the Zirids , Sanhaja Berbers whose ancestor was Ziri Ibn Menad al-Sanhaji , who ruled over "Al-Maghrib al-Awsat" (central Maghreb, modern Algeria ) and Ifriqya , also called "Al-Maghrib al-Adna" ("he closest Maghreb" to

3885-404: The Taifa of Alpuente . 3 of the 47 clan toponyms identified in the Balearic Islands , which were conquered by Muslims in the 10th century, 12th century and 13th centuries, refer to tribes belonging to the Zwawa, these three toponyms are : Beniatron, which is a variant of the name of the Aït Betrun confederation. Ibn Khaldun had mentioned the Aït Betrun in the same form. The second toponym

3996-401: The Vandal era . In the 6th century, during the Byzantine rule, the Kutama are attested by a Christian inscription, where a king of the Ucutumani —the Berber prefix u- is indicating parentage—is said in Latin Dei servus (slave of God). This inscription was discovered at the Fdoulès pass, south of Igilgili , at one of the last passes before the descent to Milevum . The oldest accounts of

4107-404: The caïdat de Sebaou and built a bordj (fortress) of the same name, halfway between Tizi Ouzou and bordj Menaïel , in 1720–21, then four years later, bordj-Boghni among the Guechtoula. Ali Khodja had defeated the Iboukhtouchen and their allies in Draâ Ben Khedda and among the Aït Frawsen. The caïdat du Sebaou included the Aït Khalfun, the Iflissen Umellil, the Beni Thur, the city of Dellys ,

4218-399: The da'i managed to win the sympathy of the population. It was probably around this time that their geographic expansion began. The territory that the Kutama occupied from this time seems much more extensive than it was in Roman times; it then encompassed the northern mountain ranges that stretch from Bougie to around Constantine , which al-Bakri calls Jabal Kutama , "the mountains of

4329-475: The da'i was defeated by the son of the emir Ibrahim II , who however did not succeed in pursuing him until Ikjan. The Kutama were able to adapt and constitute a formidable militia. Under the orders of Abu Abdallah, they took Sétif in 904, Belezma in 905, then Béja , against superior armies in both number and armament. In 907/8 they attacked the core of Ifriqiya . After the capitulation of Meskiana and Tébessa , they captured Constantine. Abu Abdallah defeated

4440-460: The independence of Algeria , some Kabyle activists tried to revive the Libyco-Berber script, which is still in use by the Tuareg . Attempts were made to modernize the writing system by modifying the shape of the letters and by adding vowels. This new version of Tifinagh has been called Neo-Tifinagh and has been adopted as the official script for Berber languages in Morocco . However, a majority of Berber activists (both in Morocco and Algeria) prefer

4551-413: The muslim conquest of the Maghreb , Ibn Abd al-Hakam and Khalifah ibn Khayyat , do not speak of them, any more than al-Ya'qubi (d. 897) and Ibn al-Faqih (d. after 903). Their name appears for the first time among that of other Berber tribes in the al-Masālik of Ibn Khordadbeh (d. 885). The tribe was not very important at that time. The Kutama probably had embraced Islam, first as Khawarij ,

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4662-441: The preterite (past), intensive aorist (present perfect, present continuous, past continuous) and the future (ad+aorist). Unlike other Berber languages, the aorist alone is rarely used in Kabyle (in the other languages it is used to express the present). Verbs are conjugated for person by adding affixes. These suffixes are static and identical for all tenses (only the theme changes). The epenthetic vowel e may be inserted between

4773-415: The 970s revealed the inadequacies of an army based solely on the Kutama, and from 978, the Fatimids began incorporating ethnic groups, notably the Turks and Daylamites , from the eastern Islamic lands into their army. In combination with the increasing difficulty of renewing their pool of Kutama recruits after c.  987/88 , these events challenged the position of the Kutama in the army. Thereafter,

4884-449: The Ait Betrun (Ait Yenni, At Wasif , Ait Budrar , Ait Bu Akkash), and the Ait Mengellet ( Ait Mengellet proper , Ait Aqbil , Ait Attaf , Ait Bu Yusef ), and used as pars pro toto by the Kabyles of Lesser Kabylia to refer to Greater Kabylia. They were named after the mountain they occupy, the Agawa mountain, the most densely populated, in the north of Djurdjura . Kabyles do not refer to themselves in their language as Zwawa, and

4995-399: The Ait Bu Yusef, who were mentioned separately from the Aït Mengellat, while they are part of the latter. However, some tribes considered as Zwawa, in the less restricted sense, were not mentioned here, such as the Aït Yahya , the Illilten and the Aït Khelili . Here is what Ibn Khaldun said about the Zwawa: "The territory of the Zwawa is located in the province of Bejaia and separates

5106-483: The Algerian army, mainly as infantry. In 1817 the freshly elected Dey of Algiers, Ali Khodja signed an alliance with the Zwawas, and elevated them to high positions, including the personal guard of the Dey. He defeated a Turkish Janissary rebellion with their help. This normalized the relationship between the Zwawas and the Dey. Several Zwawa tribesmen, were also allowed into the Odjak of Algiers , serving as regular infantry. By 1828 about 2,000 Algerian men, mainly from

5217-545: The Algerian population speaks Kabyle. The diaspora population has been estimated at one million. Kabyle is one of the Berber languages , a family within the Afroasiatic languages . It is believed to have broken off very early from Proto-Berber , although after the Zenaga language did so. Kabyle Berber is native to Kabylia . It is present in seven Algerian districts. Approximately one-third of Algerians are Berber-speakers, clustered mostly near Algiers , in Kabylian and Shawi, but with some communities related to Kabyle in

5328-436: The Andalusian genealogist Ibn Hazm , the Zwawa are a branch of the great Berber tribe of the Kutama ( Ucutamanii of antiquity), which itself is a branch of the Berber group of Baranis (also called Branes), like the Adjisa, the Masmuda , and the Sanhaja . Ibn Khaldun agrees with Ibn Hazm . The proximity of the Zwawa territory to that of the Kutama , and their cooperation with them to support Ubayd-Allah , founder of

5439-562: The Aït Frawsen, and in 1610 when they had reached their capital, Kuku. Amar had been replaced by his brother, Mohammed. Amar's wife, who was pregnant, took refuge with her parents' family, the Hafsid family in Tunis , and gave birth to a boy, Ahmed. Ahmed was nicknamed "Boukhtouch", meaning the man with the javelin, and his full name was Sidi Ahmed et-Tunsi. In the 1630s, Sidi Ahmed returned to Kabylia with Hafsid troops from Tunis , then avenged his father's death, and took control of Great Kabylia . Sidi Ahmed had left Kuku, and returned to

5550-423: The Aït Irdjen, the Agwacha, the Aït Umalu and the Aït Ussammer) and the Zwawa proper, that is to say the Aït Betroun ( Aït Yenni , Aït Wasif , Aït Boudrar , the Aït Bou-Akkach, and the Aït Oubelkacem) and the Aït Mengellat (the Aït Mengellat proper, the Aqbil , the Aït Bou-Yousef , and the Aït Attaf ), remained rebellious and were completely independent; they themselves appointed their leaders and paid no taxes to

5661-411: The Aït Mengellat; Omar Ibn 'Ali from the Aït Melikesh ; Abu el-'Abbas from the Aït Ghubri, and many other scholars from various Zwawian tribes. The French historian, Robert Brunschvig (1901 - 1990), had said in his book, La Berbérie Orientale sous les Hafsides , volume 1, that the nisbas formed on Meshedalla , Melikesh , Mengellat, Ghubri(n) are numerous in the texts from the Hafsid period. After

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5772-445: The Berber stock of al-Abter , are the children of Semgan, son of Yahya (or Yedder), son of Dari, son of Zeddjik (or Zahhik), son of Madghis al-Abter . Of all the Berber tribes, their closest relatives are the Zenata , since Djana, the ancestor of this people, was Semgan's brother and Yahya's (Yedder's) son. It is for this reason that the Zwawa and the Zwagha consider themselves related to the Zenata by blood." However, according to

5883-414: The Christian invaders, especially in the attempt to retake Béjaïa in 1512, where the Kabyles numbered 20,000 in the battlefield, but failed to retake the city. In 1555, there will be a new attempt, in which a large force of the Zwawa had participated to retake the city in the capture of Bejaia , which ultimately ended in success, and the Spanish were driven out of the city. However, the relationship between

5994-407: The East, modern day Tunisia ), in the name of the Fatimids after their departure for Cairo . After the split of the Zirid dynasty into two branches in the beginning of the 11st century, the Badicids (descendants of Badis , son of al-Mansur , son of Buluggin , son of Ziri ) reigned over Ifriqya from Kairouan , and the Hammadites (descendants of Hammad , son of Buluggin ) who reigned over

6105-488: The Kutama continued to provide the bulk of the Fatimid armies until after the Fatimid conquest of Egypt in 969. Their role in the Fatimid state was so great that Ibn Khaldun counted the Fatimids among the Berber dynasties, and several historians trace the origin of the Fatimids to the Kutama Berbers of Kabylia and attribute to the Kutama Berbers the establishment of the Fatimid Caliphate after conquering Ifriqiya and installing Abdullāh al-Mahdī Billa as Caliph. According to

6216-451: The Kutama". This area, limited to the west by the country of Zouaoua (Kabylie of Djurdjura, Soummam valley and Bejaia region), extended south to Sétif , Mila , Constantine, Collo and Jijel . It was made up of Lesser Kabylia , the Collo Massif , part of the chain of Bibans, the mountains of Ferjioua, the numidic chain. This region has an extremely rugged terrain, with a steep coast, bordered by wooded mountains of very difficult access,

6327-420: The Latin script and see the Tifinagh as a hindrance to literacy in Berber. Kabyle literature continues to be written in Latin script. The use of Tifinagh is limited to logos . Mouloud Mammeri codified a new orthography for the Kabyle language which avoided using French orthography. His script has been adopted by all Berber linguists, the INALCO , and the Algerian HCA. It uses diacritics and two letters from

6438-413: The Ottomans. Thomas Shaw , a British traveller, had lived twelve years in the Regency of Algiers , from 1720 until 1732. Thomas Shaw mentioned the Zwawa as the most numerous and wealthy of the Berbers . They lived in Djurdjura , which is the highest mountain in Barbary . It is, from one end to the other, a chain of craggy rocks which serve as asylum for various Berber tribes, and preserve them from

6549-406: The Sultan with a deputation made up of some of her sons and several notables of her tribe. The Marinid monarch, Abu al-Hassan Ibn Uthman, gave her the most honorable welcome, and having showered her with gifts and those who had accompanied her. The Abd al-Samed family still retained command of the tribe. During the Almohad period, and especially Hafsid, there were many mentions of great scholars from

6660-401: The Wad Sahel ( Soummam ), the Beni Koufi of the Guechtoula, and finally, the Mesheddala , neighbors of the Aït Betrun. The Beni Koufi belong to the Guechtoula, but apparently, they were mentioned separately in the list. Here are the tribes of the second list cited by Ibn Khaldun  : "Today, the most prominent Zwawa tribes are the Beni Idjer, the Beni Mengellet, the Beni Itrun (Beni Betrun),

6771-425: The Zeglawa and the Beni Merana. Some people say, and perhaps rightly, that the Melikech belong to the race of the Sanhaja ." In this list, most of the mentioned tribes are not known to anyone, they probably disappeared or were absorbed by other tribes due to various reasons, including civil wars, as was the case with two tribes, the Isemmadien who once belonged to the Aït Iraten , and the Aït U-Belqasem tribe, which

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6882-578: The Zwawa tribes served as Janissairies. In 1830 during the Invasion of Algiers by France, many Algerian troops were of Zwawa origins. Their heavy resistance and fighting capability during the Battle of Staouéli impressed the French, whom created a unit called the Zouaves to recruit Zwawas into the French army. As these recruitment campaigns were rather unsuccessful, they rebranded the unit. Kabyle language Kabyle ( / k ə ˈ b aɪ l / ) or Kabylian ( / k ə ˈ b ɪ l i ən / ; native name: Taqbaylit [θɐqβæjlɪθ] )

6993-407: The Zwawa, lived in this period, and precisely in the 14th century. He mentioned the Zwawa as a numerous Berber people, and he gave a list of the tribes belonging to the Zwawa: "According to Berber genealogists, the Zwawa are divided into several branches such as the Medjesta, the Melikesh , the Beni Koufi, the Mesheddala , the Beni Zericof, the Beni Guzit, the Keresfina, the Uzeldja, the Mudja,

7104-452: The Zwawa, such as Abu Zakariya Yahya ez-Zwawi , better known under the name of Ibn Mu'ṭi, philologist from the Hesnawa tribe, confederation of the Ait Aissi, author of the first versified grammatical work, the Alfiyya . He also wrote several works on various subjects; Abu Ali Nacer ed-Din ez-Zwawi, from the Meshedalla , great doctor of Bejaia; Amrane al-Medhedalli, also from the Meshedalla , professor of law; Abu r-Ruḥ 'Isa al-Mengellati, from

7215-435: The Zwawas served as highly trained mercenaries in the armies of Algiers. Zwawas were always a part of the Algerian army. Even in cases where some tribes were in rebellion, many other ones were still serving under the Dey of Algiers. Because of this, the relationship between the Deylikal government in Algiers, and the Zwawas was very much complicated. During the late 18th and 19th century the Zwawas played an important role in

7326-458: The administration as a tribe subject to tax ( kharadj )." In the 14th century, the Marinid Berbers launched an expedition into the territory of the Abdelwadids of Tlemcen and the Hafsids of Tunis with the aim of unifying the Maghreb, as their predecessors, the Almohads, did. In the year 1338 (or 1339), the 10th Marinid Sultan, Abu al-Hassan , had camped with his army in Mitidja , not far from Algiers , after his successful military campaign against

7437-550: The advent of the Aghlabids at Kairouan in 789. The Kutama contented themselves with ignoring the Aghlabid authorities and welcoming the rebel soldiers in their inaccessible mountains. Their large population and the isolation in their mountains caused them not to suffer any oppression on the part of this dynasty. At the end of the 9th century, in Mecca in 893/4 some Kutama notables met the Isma'ili da'i Abu Abdallah al-Shi'i , who attracted them to Isma'ili Shi'ism , and accompanied them on their return. In Ikjan, their chief town,

7548-466: The affix and the verb. Verbs are always marked for subject and may also inflect for person of direct and indirect object. Examples: Kabyle is a satellite-framed based language, Kabyle verbs use two particles to show the path of motion: Examples: Kabyle usually expresses negation in two parts, with the particle ur attached to the verb, and one or more negative words that modify the verb or one of its arguments . For example, simple verbal negation

7659-423: The agreement signed with the Turks is not surprising, because the Bel-K'adhi (Aït Ulkadi), who refused to pay this tax, only followed and respect the traditions of their country." The Spanish historian, Diego de Haëdo, in his work, History of the Kings of Algiers, which was published in 1612, wrote about the Zwawa, which he called "Azuagos" or "Mores de Kouko", and he also wrote about the Kingdom of Kuku , whose king

7770-427: The appointed caïds (chiefs) were all foreign to the tribe. The Guechtula confederation was forced to pay taxes. The Aït Sedqa (except the Aït Ahmed; Awqdal), part of the Aït Abdelmumen (Aït Aissi confederation) and the south of the Maatka tribe were part of it after their defeat against the Algerines years later. In 1696, Great Kabylia had been divided into two çofs (parties) during a succession conflict between Ali,

7881-420: The army of Ziyadat Allah III at al-Urbus (ancient Laribus ); the Aghlabids, defeated on all sides, abandoned by their followers, fled to the East. The victors entered Kairouan , parading in Raqqada in March 909. The da'i proclaimed an amnesty, but distributed the spoils among his forces. Assured of the victory, he revealed the name of his master, Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah , and went to Sijilmasa , where he

7992-481: The authority of the pretender and to assist him against the sultan. So, the latter offered considerable sums to the sons of Chimsi and to the people of the tribe, in order to have the pretender delivered. Chimsi initially rejected this proposal, but having subsequently discovered that she had supported an impostor, she withdrew her protection and sent him back to the country occupied by the Arabs . Then she went to appear before

8103-704: The capture of Bejaia by the Spanish in the year 1510, a certain Sidi Ahmed U-Lqadi, descendant of the judge of Bejaia, Abu el-'Abbas el-Ghubrini, took refuge in the village of his ancestors, Awrir (commune of Ifigha ) of the Aït Ghubri tribe, and will found a state which will include Great Kabylia, which is the Kingdom of Kuku, whose capital was his village of origin, then Koukou among the Aït Yahya in 1515, because of its strategic position and its geopolitical advantages that no other village had. Sidi Ahmed or el-Kadi came from

8214-449: The case of Algeria". Nevertheless, after four decades of pacific struggle, riots, strikes, and social mobilization, including the Berber spring (1980, riots and strikes in the Kabylie region of Tizi Ouzou, Bouira and Bejaïa, as well as Algiers) and the Black Spring in 2001, President Bouteflika and his government recognized Amazigh (Berber) as a "national language" for the second time through

8325-562: The central Maghreb from the Kaala des Beni Hammad , then Bejaia . The Zwawa were forced to make their submission, and the city of Bejaia was built on their territory. The Zwawa often rebelled against the Hammadids , because they were reassured and had nothing to fear in their mountains. Bejaia was conquered by the Masmudi and Zenati Almohad Berbers , who succeeded in unifying the Maghreb under

8436-561: The country of the Kutama from that of the Sanhaja . They live in the midst of precipices formed by mountains so high that the view is dazzled, and so wooded that a traveler cannot find his way there. This is how the Beni Ghubrin inhabit the Ziri, a mountain also called Djebel ez-Zan, because of the large quantity of zean oaks with which it is covered, and the Beni Frawen and the Beni Iraten occupy

8547-726: The domination of the Regency of Algiers . Thomas Shaw had cited the following Zwawi tribes (in order): the Boghni (confederation of Guechtula), the Guechtula, the Aït Kufi (confederation of Guechtula), the Aït Betrun, then the Aït Mengellat and the Aït Frawsen, and finally, the Aït Ghubri. He had cited Kuku as the most important of the Kabyle villages. In the middle of the 18th century, the caïd of Sebaou, Mohammed Ben Ali, nicknamed "ed-Debbah" (meaning

8658-494: The extended Latin alphabet: Č č Ḍ ḍ Ɛ ɛ Ǧ ǧ Ɣ ɣ Ḥḥ Ṣ ṣ Ṭ ṭ Ẓ ẓ. Kabyle has two genders : masculine and feminine. As in most Berber languages , masculine nouns and adjectives generally start with a vowel ( a- , i- , u- ), while feminine nouns generally start with t- and end with a -t , e.g. a qcic 'boy' vs. t aqcic t 'girl'. Plurals generally are formed by replacing initial a- with i- , and either suffixing -en ("regular/external" plurals), changing vowels within

8769-455: The first recognition of Amazigh as a national language in November 1996. President Bouteflika has frequently stated that "Amazigh (the Berber language) will never be an official language, and if it has to be a national language, it must be submitted to a referendum". In 2005, President Bouteflika, stated that "there is no country in the world with two official languages" and "this will never be

8880-421: The gaps being extremely rare, with mountains reaching almost 2000 m. The villages are perched on peaks and ridges that are difficult to access. The region presents itself as an almost impenetrable natural fortress. Later the Kutama were established further south in the plains. This extension suggests that, taking advantage of the weaknesses of the central government, the Kutama had reconstituted under their own name

8991-595: The great Caliph, Abd al-Mumin Ibn Ali , in 1159. During the period of weakness of the Almohad Caliphate in the 13th century, three dynasties took over power: the Hafsids of the Masmuda tribe who controlled Ifriqya , from Tripoli to Bejaia , and their capital was Tunis ; the Zayyanids , also called "Abdalwadids" (or "Beni Abdelwad"), Zenata who controlled the central Maghreb and had Tlemcen as their capital; finally,

9102-429: The historian Heinz Halm , the early Fatimid state can be likened to a "hegemony of the Kutama", particularly of the four sub-tribes of Jimala, Lahisa, Malusa, and Ijjana. In 948, Caliph al-Mansur publicly remarked that God had granted them pre-eminence among all other peoples, since they had first seen and accepted the truth. On the other hand, this dominion of the semi-civilized Kutama was greatly resented, not only by

9213-452: The legitimate heir to the throne, and his brother, Ourkho. Both were sons of Sidi Ahmed el-Tunsi. Here are the allegiances of the Kabyle tribes: Ourkho disappeared from history, and his brother, Ali, emerged victorious. At the beginning of the 18th century, a certain caïd, Ali Khodja, asserted his authority over the Amrawa, a powerful Kabyle tribe which would become a Makhzen tribe. He founded

9324-465: The modified noun. Example : « Axxam-nneɣ. » – "Our house." (House-our) Kutama The Kutama ( Berber : Ikutamen ; Arabic : كتامة ) were a Berber tribe in northern Algeria classified among the Berber confederation of the Bavares . The Kutama are attested much earlier, in the form Koidamousii by the Greek geographer Ptolemy . The Kutama played a pivotal role in establishing

9435-508: The natives limit the domination of the Lord of Kuku to the Wad Boubehir and Wad of the Amrawa. His influence undoubtedly extended much further; but, despite his musketeers and his cavalry, he was never master the mountain of Gawawa." There is also no evidence that the Aït Ulqadi levied taxes on the central tribes of Djurdjura , such as the Aït Betrun, the Aït Iraten, and the Aït Mengellat, who were

9546-628: The number of Kabyle speakers in Algeria at between 2.5 to 3 million in 2015. Bruce Maddy-Weitzman's 2018 estimate is more than 5 million Kabyle speakers in Kabylie. Linguist Asya Pereltsvaig gives 5.6 million Kabyle speakers worldwide in 2020, mostly in Algeria. In 2021, Amina Mettouchi, professor of Berber linguistics, estimated the number of speakers at five million worldwide and more than three million in Algeria. In 2022, according to Ethnologue there were 7.5 million speakers worldwide, including 6.4 million in Algeria. Many identify two dialects: Greater Kabylie (west) and Lesser Kabylie (east), but

9657-613: The old Bavares confederation and had extended to the south by reclaiming the fringe of the high plains bordering the southern flank of their mountains (Mila, Sétif regions, etc), an area favorable to the cultivation of the cereals of which their ancestors had been deprived in Roman times. Abu Abdallah formed a powerful army and launched his troops against the Aghlabid fortresses in Lesser Kabylia . A first attack failed: after occupying Mila in 902,

9768-412: The one located between Bejaia and Dellys . This last mountain is one of their most difficult retreats to tackle and the easiest to defend; from there they brave the power of the government (of Bejaia), and they pay tax only when it suits them. they stand on this lofty peak and challenge the forces of the Sultan, although they still recognize its authority. Their name is even registered in the registers of

9879-609: The other Berber tribes, but chiefly by the Arab and Arabicized inhabitants of the cities. As Halm writes, the situation was similar to a scenario where, "in the early eighteenth-century North America, the Iroquois , converted to Catholicism by Jesuit missionaries, had overrun the Puritan provinces of New England , installed their chieftains as governors in Boston, Providence and Hartford, and proclaimed

9990-612: The other hand, the Persian traveller Nasir Khusraw mentions that there were 20,000 Kutama horsemen during his visit to Egypt in 1047. During the chaos of the years 1062–1073, the Kutama allied themselves with the Sudān against the Turks and the Daylamites. The last remnants of the Kutama were dismissed from the Fatimid army after Badr al-Jamali came to power in 1073. In Algeria, the Kutama will give

10101-584: The preservation of the Berber prefix for the parentage "Ath" instead of the Arabic "Beni". There are other toponyms too, such as Azuébar (Assuévar in Catalan ), which comes from Zwawa. Without forgetting Algatocin (Atouch, confederation of Aït Waguenun) and Benicàssim, which may have been an extinct fraction of the Zwawa. These Beni Qasim even founded a taifa after the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba ,

10212-574: The reality is more complex than that, Kabyle dialects constitute a dialect continuum that can be divided into four main dialects (from west to east): With the exception of the far-eastern dialect, much of the vocabulary of Kabyle is common across its dialects, though some lexical differences exist, e.g. the word dream in English (from west to east): bargu, argu, argu, bureg. Almost all Berber speakers are multilingual, in Arabic and often also in French. Kabyle

10323-586: The region of Kabylia by the sixth century, when Latin became the official and administrative language in North Africa, as in the rest of the former Roman empire. Kabyle became a mostly spoken language after the Arabic conquest of North Africa , and while many examples of the Kabyle language written in a form of Berber-Arabic script survive, the number of Kabyle texts was relatively much smaller than those written in other Berber languages such as Shilha , Mozabite , and Nafusi . The first French–Kabyle dictionary

10434-440: The reins of government in 1000, he launched a purge of the Fatimid elites, during which Ibn Ammar and many of the other prominent Kutama were executed. Thereafter the position of the Kutama steadily declined, so that in November 1025, during an official review, the once numerous and proud Kutama were reduced to demanding bread to sate their hunger. Shortly after, they were unable to mobilize even 100 horsemen at short notice. On

10545-457: The result of assimilations (these accents are generally divided into western and eastern Kabyle). Some of these assimilations are present among all Kabyle "dialects" and some not. These assimilations are not noted in writing, such as: Gemination affects the quality of certain consonants, turning semivowels and fricatives into stops ; in particular, geminated ɣ becomes qq , geminated y becomes gg , and geminated w becomes bb . Kabyle

10656-623: The slaughterer), was about to launch a campaign against the Aït Aïssi , the Ait Sedqa, and the Guechtula. Mohammed married the daughter of Si Ammar ou-Boukhetouch to conclude an alliance with his family and keep the tribes under their influence, like the Aït Iraten and the Aït Frawsen, neutral. In 1710, the Deylik of Algiers became De facto independent from the Sublime Porte . In the 17th-18th century

10767-497: The strongest of the Zwawa in numbers, both weapons and manpower. According to Pierre Boyer, the territory of Kuku included the tribes of maritime Kabylia , and also those of the Aït Iraten and the Zwawa proper (the Aït Betrun and the Aït Mengellat), but these last were rather allies than submitted tribes. It should not be forgotten that the Zwawa, in the less restrictive sense of the term, are various confederations and tribes, and not

10878-523: The village of his ancestors, Awrir NAït Ghubri, then moved to Tifilkut among the Illilten tribe. This marked the end of Kuku as a political capital. However, the ruling family remained the same, but under a different name: Aït Boukhtouch, or Iboukhtouchen. In the year 1659, the Algerine founded the caïdat (chiefdom) of bled Guechtula (or Boghni). The caïdat was under the authority of the Bey of Titteri, and

10989-514: The west ( Shenwa languages ), east and south of the country. The populations of Béjaïa (Bgayet), Bouïra (Tubirett) and Tizi Ouzou (Tizi Wezzu) provinces are in majority Kabyle-speaking. In addition, Kabyle is mainly spoken in the provinces of Boumerdès , and as well as in Bordj Bou Arréridj , Jijel , and in Algiers where it coexists with Algerian Arabic . Kabyle Berber is also spoken as

11100-566: The word ("broken/internal" plurals), or both. Examples: As in all Berber languages, Kabyle has two types of states or cases of the noun : free state and construct state (or 'annexed state'). The free state is morphologically unmarked. The construct state is derived either by changing initial /a-/ to /u-/, loss of initial vowel in some feminine nouns, addition of a semi-vowel word-initially, or in some cases no change occurs at all: As in Central Morocco Tamazight , construct state

11211-460: The year after, during the battle of Tlemcen , in which the Ottomans were defeated and Ziyyanid Sultan, Abu Hammou III , had been restored on the throne as a vassal of the Spanish Empire . The regency of Algiers had therefore lost its most important kabyle allies. After this event, war with Aruj 's brother, Kheireddine Barberossa , was inevitable. The following year, the Kabyles , supported by

11322-835: The years 100-110. They were then in the region of the Ampsaga river ( oued el-Kebir ) in Mauretania Caesariensis . He locates them upstream of the Khitouae tribe and downstream of the Todoukae tribe, themselves located near the sources of the river. In the second century, they formed part of the Bavares tribal confederation, which gave a hard time to the Roman power, both in Mauretania Caesarean, then Sitifian after 303, and in Numidia . This political and military opposition did not prevent

11433-565: Was also said about them: "The Zwawa are in front for misery, behind for pay." The Zwawa are undoubtedly Berbers , but there are no longer two hypotheses about their tribal origin. The Muslim historian Ibn Khaldun reported that Berber genealogists themselves considered the Zwawa related to the Zenata by blood. In his book, History of the Berbers he said in volume 1: "The Zwawa and the Zwagha, tribes from

11544-502: Was an abjad , and is not yet completely deciphered today. Deciphered scripts are mostly funerary, following a simple formula of "X son of Y" (X u Y) which is still used to this day in the Kabyle language. Such writings have been found in Kabylie (also known as Kabylia) and continue to be discovered by archeologists. The Tifinagh script of the Tuaregs was a direct continuation of this earlier script. The Libyco-Berber alphabet disappeared in

11655-629: Was cited as a powerful ruler. De Haëdo had said that the Zwawa were very numerous, that they only came and went back, buying weapons, roaming freely in Algiers , as if the city was theirs. In 1576, 1,000 Zwawa participated in the capture of Fez in Morocco as allies of the Regency of Algiers, in which they supported the future Saadian sultan, Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik , against his nephew, Muhammad al-Mutawakkil . The Zwawa were equipped with muskets, and they were noted to be good soldiers. Muhammad al-Mutawakkil

11766-488: Was compiled by a French ethnologist in the 18th century. It was written in Latin script with an orthography based on that of French . However, the Kabyle language really became a written language again in the beginning of the 19th century. Under French influence, Kabyle intellectuals began to use the Latin script . " Tamacahutt n wuccen " by Brahim Zellal was one of the first Kabyle books written using this alphabet. After

11877-515: Was defeated. In 1541, the Zouaoua supported Charles V in his Expedition to Algiers by sending 2000 men to his army. Hassan Pasha responded in 1542 by attacking and massacring the Zouaoua. In 1546, Amar had succeeded his father, el-Hussein, to the throne. Amar had reigned until his assassination in 1618, because of "tyranny" and his weakness against the Regency of Algiers who led two punitive expeditions, in 1607 in which they reached Jema'a n Saharij among

11988-532: Was held, to escort him to Kairouan. On the way, the Kutama army conquered the Rustamid imamate and drove the Ibadis from Tiaret , who went to take refuge in Sadrata, the capital of Ouargla oasis . The Kutama were the mainstay and elite of the early Fatimid armies. Although other Berber tribes soon flocked to the Fatimid banner — notably the large Sanhaja confederation during the reign of al-Mansur bi-Nasr Allah —

12099-446: Was part of the Aït Betrun confederation at least before the middle of the 18th century. This shows how erroneous the claim of common ancestry is. The claim of common ancestry is very difficult to accept everywhere else, is even less acceptable in Kabylia , where the tribe is a political federation which changes over time and at the will of the confederates. The only tribes that still exist in this first list are three: The Aït Melikech of

12210-532: Was replaced by his brother, el-Hussein, and Great Kabylia had kept its independence. In the year 1529, that is to say two or four years after the capture of Algiers by Khayr ed-Din , a peace treaty was concluded by the Aït Ulkadi and the Regency of Algiers, the latter recognizing the undisputed master of the independent Great Kabylia, el-Hussein, but also imposing an annual tax, which has never been paid. Ammar Boulifa says about this: "The non-execution of this part of

12321-411: Was the first Muslim traveler and geographer to mention the name in his book, ZwawaKitab al-Masâlik wa l-Mamâlik , but without giving substantial information about them. Adolphe Hanoteau  [ fr ] , a 19th-century French general, thought that the word Zwawa might be an alteration of "Ath Wawa", the regular plural of Agawa (son of Awa), used to designate a man from the Igawawen, by replacing

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